on the terms cyma recta and cyma reversa

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On the Terms Cyma Recta and Cyma Reversa Author(s): Allan Marquand Source: American Journal of Archaeology, Vol. 10, No. 3 (Jul. - Sep., 1906), pp. 282-288Published by: Archaeological Institute of AmericaStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/496982Accessed: 02-06-2015 09:32 UTC

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ON THE TERMS CYMA RECTA AND CYMA RE VERSA

THE terms cyma recta and cyma reversa are so universally used by English writers to designate two forms of mouldings that we have accepted them without hesitation. Recently, however, a German critic of an American book has raised the question whether this usage is correct. He doubtless had in mind that the Greek word icima is always, and the Latin cyma, presumably, neuter. Whence comes it, therefore, that we use the feminine form and are we right in doing so ?

Let us briefly trace the history of these terms, sketching first the Greek and Latin usage. (Figs. 1 and 2.)

FIGURE 1.--THE CYMA RECTA. FIGURE 2.- THE CYMA REVERSA.

The Greek word Kriua occurs, apparently, only once in an architectural sense and that in a fragmentary passage from the Thalamopoioi of Aeschylus: -

eiX' (e') 0' LU&V TV A*of-Lov cLa7TvWpLa7L

Ky/i. EV 7ptyLOVOLt fK7~rpaLtVT(o pVU OOL•.1

It is interesting to note that the term Lesbian cyma is here used by a poet of the fifth century B.c., a man who could lay no specific claim to architectural knowledge.

1 Nauck, T. G.F.2 p. 26. American Journal of Archaeology, Second Series. Journal of the

Archaeological Institute of America, Vol. X (1906), No. 8. 282



CYMA RECTA AND CYMA REVERSA 283

Another type of Icilca, in all probability so designated by the Greeks, was the Doric cyma, Abptov xicta or A?opucv Kv icta. Aeschylus distinguishes the Lesbian cyma by means of its decoration, as a rhythmical sequence of triangular leaves. (Fig. 3.) The Doric cyma could be similarly distinguished by its decoration consisting of broad rectangular leaves. (Fig. 4.)

FIGURE 3.--THE LESBIAN CYMA. FIGURE 4. --THE DORIC CYMA.

The term idcma implies a bulging form and often means a wave. When applied to a moulding it is natural for us to assume that it originally indicated a specific form, probably of an undulatory character.

The word Kv~drtov, to designate a moulding, is found several times in the well-known Erechtheum inscription (I.G. I, 322 and 324). It occurs also in the Septuagint (Exodus xxv. 11, 24, 25), where it evidently means the crowning moulding of the Ark and of the Table of Shew-bread. But in none of these cases is the wave-like form of the moulding necessarily implied.

Another word, at-4at, was employed by the Greeks of the Alexandrian period. Hesychius (Lex. s.v. o-4aat) defines it

vaguely as ov 'ra', pooait

?do6te't 7'tve. Vitruvius (De Arch.

82, 7) defines this word more specifically as "quas graeci

7rate•7i'a dicunt." The sima, therefore, is the roof-moulding.

It invariably crowned the raking cornice of the gable and fre-

quently also the horizontal cornice. Its form varied according to period and locality.

In Latin the word cyma occurs as a feminine as well as a neuter noun, but apparently never in an architectural sense. Vitruvius makes no use of the word cyma, but he frequently



284 ALLAN MARQUAND

employs the diminutive cymatium for mouldings of various forms and in various applications. In all cases he appears to have in mind the location rather than the form of the mould-

ing. It is essentially a terminal and usually a crowning moulding. This at least is the one common property of the

cymatium of the abacus, of the epistyle, of the frieze, of the dentils, of the cornice. Similarly, the cymatium of the Ionic

capital may be considered the crowning moulding of the shaft, and in the case of doorways the cymatia 1 of the antepagmenta, of the supercilium, of the hyperthyrum, and of the corona are all terminal or crowning mouldings of various forms. Vitruvius also mentions the cymatium doricoum and the cymatium lesbium (De Arch. 92, 21; 97, 11, 16), but does not define the distinction. It is likely that he distinguished these forms, as did

Aeschylus, chiefly by their decoration. Once only Vitruvius

speaks of a moulding as an unda (De Arch. 118, 16). This is the precise Latin equivalent of the Greek icipa, and in using it he may have been conscious of the wave-like form. But neither here nor elsewhere is there suggested the distinction between an unda recta and unda reversa. This distinction was reserved for a later period.

In the Byzantine and Mediaeval period the word Kc4Apa as an architectural term does not occur. At least it is not mentioned by Sophocles in his Greek Lexicon of the Roman and Byzantine Period. KvpdTtov occurs, as we have seen, in the Septuagint version of Exodus xxv. 11, 24, 25, but the Vulgate translation by the word corona conveys no indication of a specific form of moulding. The word oaitat also was apparently forgotten. As a matter of fact, the wave-moulding is not a characteristic form in Byzantine and Early Mediaeval architecture, and does not reappear in the history of architecture until the Gothic period. In Flamboyant or Decorated, and in Perpendicular or Late Gothic, the wave-moulding appears, sometimes in compli- cated forms, and is known as the ogee moulding.2

1 Cf. Nohl, Index Vitruvianus, s.v. cymatium. 2 Paley, Manual of Gothic Mouldings, London, 1877, p. 50.




The architects of the Renaissance in Italy derived their ter-

minology in part from Vitruvius and in part from current

usage. The Greek word KIscia was not used by Vitruvius, nor does it appear to have descended into the Italian popular lan-

guage. But its Latin equivalent unda, or rather undula, is used occasionally by Alberti.' In the Italian translation of Alberti's work by Bartoli it appears as onda. The word

cymatium survived, both as a Latin word, spelled cimatium

(Alberti), or cimacium (Scamozzi); and in the vernacular as cimatio (Alberti), cimagine (Filarete), cimasa (Bartoli). It was used, however, in the Vitruvian sense of a crowning moulding, and its original significance as a little wave-mould-

ing seems to have been forgotten. Thus Alberti in 1452 (l.c.) defined cimatium as "quidem supremum cuiusque particulae liniamentum," and Filarete (1464) in his Trattato della Archi- tettura :2 " ma questo primo membro ci chiama cimagine, perche sempre ci metta disopra, cioe nella cima degli altri membri della cornice." Similarly, Bartoli in his translation, shows that Alberti evidently connpected the word cimasa with the word cima.

In the popular language the form of the wave-moulding was described as a gola or throat moulding. Alberti calls it in Latin gulula and defines its origin (.ce.), "jugulum enim homi- nis imitatur." He was followed by Filarete (l.c.) " e chiamasi la forma sua ghola, perchi quasi sta coma una ghola, che abbi un pocco di grosso disotto al mento." Henceforth all the

great Italian architects make use of the term gola and goletta. It is to Alberti that we owe the distinction between the two

forms which we call cyma recta and cyma reversa. In the chap- ter to which we have already referred, he discusses .the forms of mouldings, comparing them to the forms of letters. Thus, the roundel resembles the letter C placed beneath the letter L, and the cavetto is like the letter C reversed. Similarly, the

1 Alberti, De re aedificatoria, written 1452, pub. 1482, Lib. VII, cap. VII, " ex flexionis similitudine appelabitur undula."

2 Cf. Quellenschriften fiir Kunstgeschichte, Neue Folge, iii. Bd. pp. 285-287.



286 ALLAN MARQUAND

letter S beneath the letter L, thus (Fig. 5) describes the form which he calls gulula (Ital. goletta, intavolato), and the moulding which resembles the letter S reversed (Fig. 6) he desig- nates as undula (Ital. onda, gola). Alberti had thus enunciated the distinction between the two forms of mouldings, but his terminology did not survive. Vignola, Palladio, and Scamozzi

FIGURE 5. - THE GULULA. FIGURE 6.--THE UNDULA.

all wrote in the vernacular, and in speaking of these two forms of mouldings designated them by the word gola and discarded the term undula. Thus we find in Vignola 1 the distinction between the gola diritta and the gola roverscia.

Similarly Palladio2 distinguishes the gola diritta and the gola reversa. Scamozzi3 speaks frequently of the gola diritta. The word sima is very rarely used by the Renaissance architects.

The influence of the Italian Renaissance terminology has extended to modern times, the classic terms sometimes strug- gling for existence. Thus in Italy the terms gola and gula still survive, but cimasa and cimagio are more frequently used. In France the terms gueule droite and gueule renversde (Ital. gula diritta and gula reversa) have already an archaic flavor, cymaise or cimaise, and even simaise droite and renversde, occurring more frequently, while a still more national spirit is shown by calling these mouldings by the names doucine (eyma recta) and talon (eyma reversa).

In Germany we find a varied terminology. Kyma occurs as a neuter noun, especially to express the distinction between the

1 Vignola, Regola della cinque Ordine (1563), Rome, 1602, p1s. 7, 8, 14. 2 Palladio, I Quattro Libri dell' Architettura, Venice, 1570, pp. 26, 35. 8 Scamozzi, L'Idea dell' Architettura Universale (1607), Milan, 1838, p. 116.




.Dorisches Kyma and the Lesbisches Kyma.1 Kymation is also fre-

quently used and umgekehrtes Kymation for the inverted forms.2 Some writers, like Constantin Uhde,3 prefer the words Sima and Karnies to describe the cyma recta and cyma reversa used in crowning mouldings and the terms die gestiirzte Sima and der gestiirzte Karnies for the inverted forms used in basal

mouldings. German patriotism, however, leads others to use such words as Welle, Rinnleiste, Traufleiste ; hence we have for

cyma recta, die Steigende Welle, and for cyma reversa, die

verkehrt steigende Welle, and for the inverted forms die fallende Welle or Sturzrinne and die verkehrte fallende Welle or Glocken- leiste.4 In Miiller and Mothes, Archaeologisches Warterbuch

(s.v. Cyma and Karnies), cyma recta and cyma reversa are

given as Latin terms, but it is safe to say that they are very rarely used by German writers.

It will be seen from the current European terminology that the words cyma recta and cyma reversa represent a usage practi- cally confined to England and to English-speaking people. How then did these terms come to be adopted in England? So far as our researches go, it came about in this way. In 1715 an Italian named Giacomo Leoni was brought over to England by Lord Burlington to assist in the translation of the architectural works of Palladio, published in that year. This English edition of Palladio, subsequently republished with annotations of Inigo Jones, had no little influence on English architects and

architectural terminology. Leoni also published in 1726 an

edition of Alberti's Ten Books on Architecture, and must have been acquainted with Alberti's derivation of cimatium from

cima. Accordingly, in his translation of Palladio, for gola recta and reversa, Leoni substitutes cima recta and cima reversa in his descriptions of the Tuscan, Doric, and Ionic cornices.5

1 Meyer, Konvers, Lex., s.v. Kyma. 2 Boetticher, Die Tektonik der Hellenen, Berlin, 1874, pp. 64, 119. 8 Die Konstruktionen und die Kunstformen der Architektur, Berlin, 1902.

4 Busch, Die Baustile, Berlin, 1878, p. 16.

5 The Architecture of Palladio, edited by Leoni, with remarks by Inigo Jones, 3d ed., London, 1742, p. 15, pls. 12, 16, 22.



288 ALLAN MARQUAND

The word cima meaning a summit or crown was current not

only in Italy but in parts of France and in Spain.' According to Littre it is to be identified with the feminine form of the Latin cyma, and the same identification was made by English writers. Thus, Stuart and Revett in 1762 speak of the cyma reversa; 2 James Elmer in 1826 3 defines the " two sorts of cymae," the cyma recta and the cyma reversa. Later special and general dictionaries such as Gwilt,4 the Encyclopaedia Britannica, the

Century Dictionary, Harper's Dictionary of Classical Literature and Antiquities, and Russell Sturgis's Dictionary of Architecture, all preserve the distinction and the spelling of cyma recta and

cyma reversa, which has been current in England for two hun- dred years.

Thus we see how through a slight modification in spelling our

language has cherished the older Latin rather than the more modern Italian form. This occurred naturally in a country like England where Latin was cultivated much more assiduously than was Italian. It was natural also that the conservative

Englishman, accustomed as he is to the use of sexless nouns, when he found that the feminine cyma, -ae, was quite as ortho- dox as the neuter cyma, -atis, should not busy himself with an

attempt to reform the Latin language. It is true that apparently a new and architectural signification has been given to the Latin word cyma, but, on the other hand, we should not forget that our knowledge of Latin architectural terminology is based almost exclusively on a single treatise by Vitruvius, and that other architects may well have used the word cyma, whereas he contented himself with the diminutive cymatium.

ALLAN MARQUAND. PRINCETON UNIVERSITY.

1 Cf. Littr6, Dictionnaire, s.v. cime. 2 Antiquities of Athens, vol. I, p. 6. 3 Dictionary of the Fine Arts, s.v. cyma. 4 Gwilt, Encyclopedia of Architecture, London, 1842.



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